The San Francisco Giants are desperately in need of outfield help at the upper levels of the minor league system. Enter Todd Linden, a supplemental first-rounder last June out of LSU who has had his way with Double-A Texas League pitching this season (.318, 8 HR, 40 RBI, 24 doubles).

Linden, who turned 22 last month and participated in the Double-A All-Star Game in Norwich, Conn., earlier this week, has enjoyed a terrific first pro season despite playing in arguably the worst home setting in all of Double-A. The Shreveport Swamp Dragons have averaged a rookie ball-like 446 fans per game and have drawn just under 16,000 fans all season to Fair Grounds Field. To put that into perspective, league foe Round Rock averages nearly 10,000 fans per game and drew nearly 12,000 in one night alone.

"One time," said Linden, "I looked up in the stands at the beginning of the game and actually counted. There were 70 people there."

That hasn't stopped the 6-2, 215-pound switch-hitter, who routinely played in front of thousands as a collegian, from ranking tied for fourth in the league in average and hits (102) and fifth with a .408 on-base percentage. His average at home (.348) is actually far better than on the road (.294).

Linden has a sweet swing and can drive the ball to all fields. He had a 15-game hitting streak earlier this season, tied for the league's third-longest this year. Linden's biggest downfall this season is a clear struggle against left-handed pitching. He is batting just .231 against southpaws, as opposed to .335 versus righties.

Named as the top prospect in the Cape Cod League in 2000, Linden began his college career at the University of Washington but transferred after two seasons because of a poor relationship with the school's head coach.

American League
Boston Red Sox low Class A left-hander Phil Dumatrait may be taking it a little slower than most, but he now seems to be finding his way just fine. Dumatrait, Boston's first-rounder from the 2000 draft out of a California junior college who spent most of his first two pro seasons sidelined with shoulder problems, pitched his first career shutout in Augusta's 3-0 victory at Columbia last Thursday and then tossed five more scoreless innings against Columbus on Wednesday. The lanky southpaw is now 7-3 in his first full pro season and is undefeated in his last 10 starts.

The Kansas City Royals promoted burly right-hander Ryan Bukvich from Triple-A Omaha to the big leagues this week. The 24-year-old is clearly one of the biggest surprises of the season and enters his big-league career coming off a brief but dominating run through Triple-A in which he had eight saves and did now allow a run in 12 appearances, yielding just four hits in 13 2/3 innings. Prior to that, he had compiled a 1.41 ERA with Double-A Wichita, during which he allowed just 17 hits and fanned 43 batters in 32 innings. Bukvich, generously listed at 6-2 and 250 pounds, has come a long way since failing out of college after a once-promising mound career had seemed to have gone awry. He got his career back on track, was drafted by Kansas City in the 11th round of the 2000 draft and has not looked back since.

National League
With Prince Fielder, the Milwaukee Brewers' top pick in the June draft, tearing up the rookie-level Pioneer League, the organization may have a very nice problem on its hands: too many good, young first basemen. Fielder is hitting .360 -- tied for sixth-best in the Pioneer League -- and has compiled a .486 on-base percentage that ranks second in the league. Up one level, at low Class A Beloit, Brad Nelson leads all minor leaguers with 82 RBI and ranks among the Midwest League leaders in nearly every offensive category. At high Class A High Desert, Corey Hart is tied for the California League lead in RBI and, like Nelson, is among the league leaders in most categories. Hart was selected as a member of Team USA for the Futures Game this past weekend in Milwaukee.

With all of the hype about Brett Myers in Triple-A, the success of right-hander Ryan Madson in Double-A and the solid performances by highly-regarded Gavin Floyd and Seung Lee in low Class A, there is always a tendency to forget the man in the middle for the Philadelphia Phillies. This year, that man happens to be 20-year-old Taylor Buchholz, who is tearing through a league for the second straight summer and chewing up innings. The 20-year-old Buchholz recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts in the high Class A Clearwater's 3-2 victory at Lakeland on Tuesday night to improve to 6-1 with a 1.57 ERA in his last nine starts. Last season, the 6-4, 225-pound right-hander won six straight starts in one stretch while with low Class A Lakewood. He is 8-5 with 3.14 ERA and a league-leading 117 strikeouts over a league-high 126 innings this season.